Pear and Gruyere Strata

The final of my housewarming brunch dishes is something I made at the holidays last year. When having several people over for brunch, it was key to have at least one dish that I didn't have to do all the work on in the morning, this was that dish.The prep work is pretty minimal and you basically assemble everything the night before so the following morning you just need to stick it in the oven for a little less than an hour.

The only modification I made on this recipe was that I didn't use the turbinado sugar since I couldn't find the ingredient, though I think the only reap purpose of it was additional sweetness to carmelize on the top. I felt the dish was pretty sweet as it was, but if you can find that sugar, more power to you!

Pear and Gruyere Strata (serves 6-8 people)

Ingredients:

4 cups sliced peeled Anjou or Concorde pear

2 tsp butter, melted

6 TB granulated sugar, divided

12 (1-ounce) slices cinnamon swirl bread (such as Pepperidge Farm), cut in half diagonally

Cooking spray

1 cup (4 oz) shredded Gruyère cheese

1 1/2 cups 1% low-fat milk

1 cup egg substitute

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 TB turbinado sugar

1/2 cup maple syrup

Directions:

Combine pear, butter, and one tablespoon sugar in a large bowl; toss gently.

Arrange half of bread in an 11 x 7-inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spoon pear mixture evenly over bread; top evenly with cheese. Arrange remaining bread over cheese.

Combine the remaining five tablespoons granulated sugar, milk, egg substitute, and cinnamon, stirring with a whisk. Pour milk mixture over bread, pressing down to submerge. Cover and chill 8 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Uncover dish. Sprinkle turbinado sugar evenly over bread. Bake at 350° for 55 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes. Cut into 6-8 pieces; drizzle with syrup.